Tears of a Dragon
by Titania77
Summary: Setting: After the return of the Tenrou team. All Lucy wanted was to do something special for Natsu's birthday. But after a turn of events, the dark secret behind the dragon slayer magic was revealed. Lucy wished she didn't know the truth and return everything back to the way it was. In order to save a world in peril, she is going to lose her dear bestfriend Natsu. NaLu and more.
1. For Someone Special

Author's note: Hi guys! New writer here. So please don't hold back the constructive criticisms. :)

As the summary said, it's gonna be an adventure and dramatic story. The main pairings here will be NaLu and JerZa. It'll focus more on NaLu even though I'm a huge JerZa fan. :) What I need to tell you here is that I changed Natsu's age. (I actually don't know what his age really is) But in this fic, he's the oldest dragon slayer in the guild, yes, even older than Gajeel. And Arya and Argo are original characters and they're twins. :) We'll see what they're up to in the coming chapters. ;)

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

"Argo, Natsu Dragneel is back."

Argo Wellington did not look happy with the news. He crossed his eyebrows and looked below to the town of Magnolia with his bright green eyes. "We must find him them, along with Gajeel Redfox and Wendy Marvel."

His twin sister Arya nodded, "This is the end of all dragon slayers."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Fairy Tail…

"Ne, ne Mira," Lucy asked the bartender while it was just the two of them at the bar. "I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it Lucy?" Mira sweetly smiled.

"Let's plan a surprise birthday party for Natsu! His 20th birthday is in two weeks."

"Wow, our Natsu is finally an adult."

Lucy nodded sideways and sighed, "He might be turning 20 but he has a mind of a 5-year old." Being his best friend, Lucy knows Natsu well. She looked back at everything they've been through, how he saved her from Gajeel's and Juvia's old dark guild, how he never gave up and defeated the masters of Oracion Seis and Grimore Heart, and how he held her tight when she found out her father died. Natsu was a friend Lucy can trust with her life so she wanted to do something special for him for everything he did for her and the guild. Although nobody has quite expressed the thought, but where would they be if Natsu wasn't around? His will and his strong sense of camaraderie helped the guild keep on going so as much as possible Lucy wanted the guild to be involved in this celebration.

"So what is the plan Lucy?"

"Well…" then Lucy whispered her plan to Mira's ear. After all, the unpredictable Natsu may show up any moment.

"That's a great idea! I'll tell on everyone in the guild." The guild's number was reduced to half after the Tenroujima incident so spreading the word discreetly wouldn't be much of a problem. It was quite sad for the Tenrou team who came back after 7 years when they found out about this. The guild's grand castle-like building turn into a small one that resembles a shack located at the outskirts of Magnolia. Fairy Tail was now in the lower ranks of the guild so less and less job offers were available to them. If there were any available job, it would offer little amount of cash. Nevertheless, the group was still optimistic that with hard work and determination, they will be the number one guild in Fiore again.

"Yay! Arigatou Mira!"

"Anytime, Lucy." The Mira let out a giddy laugh. "You're so sweet to Natsu."

Lucy and Mira had this sort of conversation before so she knew what Mira was thinking, "No Mira, it's not what you are thinking."

"Awww…but don't you think you too look good as a couple?"

"No, no, no, no. Dating Natsu would be like dating a kid."

"But for you to plan a surprise birthday party, that sounds like a girlfriend's job!"

"Waaaah! I am not listening to this again. We're just friends…best friends." Even though she said that, Lucy felt a little flush of red on her cheeks. She thought, 'What would it be like if Natsu and I really got together?...Aaaah no Lucy! Don't go there. That will never happen!'

"Hmm…best friends…why are you blushing then?" Mira teasingly said.

This made Lucy blush more. She wanted to get out of this conversation now. "It's just the heat. I got to go now Mira! Thanks for your help."

"Sure Lucy. No problem." Mira thought that she will definitely make some changes in Lucy's plan for Natsu's birthday.

Unknown to them, all their planning will be in vain.


	2. Missing Dragon Slayers

That night…

Natsu woke up in the middle of the night. He was writhing in pain. It felt like he has a fever with a heat of a million suns. But that is strange, he's the son of the fire dragon Igneel, he should be able to handle the heat, except for this one. This was the first time ever to experience this pain, the pain of being burned from the inside out. He was tossing and turning on his bed and he tried not to scream because he didn't want to wake up Happy and cause him to worry. He whispered under his breath, "What's wrong with me? Igneel, please tell me what's wrong with me?"

He felt fine during the day. The pain came suddenly to him. Even for someone as strong as Natsu, he couldn't handle this pain. "Igneel…please…help me…" Natsu struggled to stand up and as silently as he can, he went out of the house and left his partner deep in sleep, oblivious to the pain he's in.

* * *

The next morning…

While Natsu wasn't there, Mira and Lucy were spreading the word about Natsu's birthday party. Erza volunteered to get the cake and the food Natsu likes. Levy, Wendy and Charles were going to decorate the place. Gray , even though he was unwilling at first, agreed to distract Natsu with Romeo's help on that day so that they can set-up the place. Lucy would be handling the programs and a lot of other volunteers are planning this event. The guild was buzzing around with gladness because they too wanted to show gratitude to Natsu. Lucy was relieved that a lot of people responded well. As she finished assigning different tasks to the volunteers, Lucy noticed and said, "It's almost lunch time and Natsu and Happy haven't shown up yet. Where would they go?"

Wendy said to her, "Maybe they went to a job, for just the two of them."

"Maybe…" Lucy was a bit disappointed at that thought when Happy suddenly came flying in with tears in his eyes.

"Minnnaaaaaa! Natsu…Natsu!" Happy yelled in between sobs.

Lucy responded quickly, "What's wrong? What happened to Natsu?"

"He's missing!"

"Eeeeehhhh..." everyone was surprised.

"I went looking for him everywhere. I even went to your house, Lucy but he's not there." The poor exceed while he was still sobbing.

Lucy thought and a sweat dropped on her forehead like an anime character, _'You don't have to announce that to everyone. Now they will get the wrong idea.'_ True enough, she saw on the corner of her eye Mira was smirking. She ignored it and she tried to cheer him up, "Maybe he just went somewhere without you." Even though she knew deep down, it would be strange for Natsu to go somewhere without Happy.

"I don't think so. I woke up in the morning and he wasn't there! He didn't leave a note or anything. Why would he do that?"

Gray said, "Maybe that flame brain went for a walk in the middle of the night and got lost."

"Maybe he followed a scent of delicious food," Wendy wondered.

Erza said, "Maybe he decided to train in the mountains all of the sudden." Lucy thought and sweat dropped again,_ 'I can only imagine you doing that.'_

Then with an authoritative yet calming voice Erza said, "Let's not worry about Natsu for now. He hasn't been gone that long. We all know what he is capable of." Everyone just nodded even though Lucy had doubts and negative thoughts in her mind, _'What in the world happened to him I wonder…"_

"I agree, let us not worry about Natsu. That boy has defeated Master Purehito. He can take care of himself well." This time, it was the voice of Master Makarov. He just came in the guild with a hooded person behind him. "Now, I need Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy and Gajeel."

A worried Levy said to Master Makarov, "But Gajeel and Lily aren't here Master." She was more worried about Gajeel than Natsu as she thought, _'I know Gajeel and Lily are out doing a job, but they've been gone for three days now. With all the jobs posted there, I doubt there something there that can hold them for three days.'_

"Hmm…very well then, it's just the four of you then, plus Natsu, if he shows up. If it's alright with you?" He looked at the person behind him. That person stayed stilled for a while probably thinking of a response then nodded. "Okay then, let's talk in the backroom."

When everyone was inside the backroom, Makarov cleared his throat and announced, "We have a client now with a dangerous job offer and her name is…"

"Let me introduce myself." A small spoken voice came from the hooded person.

"Very well then." Makarov let her continue.

She removed her hood revealing a beautiful girl with long curly brown hair and bright green eyes. She had a slightly tanned skin and a polite smile. "My name is Arya Wellington. Nice to meet you all."

* * *

**AN**: DUN DUN DUN! SHE APPEARED! Could she have done something to Natsu? Find out in the next chapter. And the next chapter will also reveal where Gajeel and Lily have gone.


	3. Jewels, Dark Guilds and A Dragon

AN: Here's the third chapter! What's Arya's job offer and where did Gajeel and Lily head off? What's happening to Natsu? Find out in this chapter!

Natsu woke up in a familiar room. The smell of healing potions and a familiar person caught his attention. Natsu thought,_ 'That's right, I went to Poluchka's.'_

He remembered leaving the house and limping his way to Poluchka's. Of course, the old wizard was angry for disturbing her sleep but she was also shocked to see the fiery Natsu Dragneel that weak so she took him in. She gave Natsu some painkillers and a cooling potion to cool down his body temp. After taking those and a few healing magic from Poluchka, he finally fell asleep.

"I still don't know what's going on with you." Poluchka said looking all groggy. She brought out a lot of books on her table. Natsu's condition puzzled her. She never had someone with that high of a body heat all of a sudden. When Natsu appeared on her doorstep, Poluchka offered to help him get on the bed but she even couldn't touch him because of his body heat. Natsu had to drag himself to the bed. After giving Natsu the stuff that he needed, she went on looking for information about what was bothering Natsu but she couldn't find anything. "But anyways, how are you feeling?"

"Much better. Actually, I feel really fine." Natsu stood up and he didn't feel anything. It felt like it was all a bad dream and nothing happened. "This is weird Polka-san."

"Poluchka." She looked slightly irrated but she still handed him a bottle of cooling potion. "This is the potion you drank to cool your body temp. You can keep it so you can drink some when it happens again."

Natsu smiled and said, "Arigatou Pokka-san!"

"Poluchka. Anyways, if you're that stupid, I think you're back to normal."

"I wonder what happened to me. I never felt that pain…so that's what if feels like…getting burned." Natsu looked down at his body thinking maybe there were burnt marks or anything, but there was nothing. So what was it really? "I felt…I felt…that heat came from Igneel for some reason."

Poluchka just watched him silently. She was still figuring out what happened to Natsu. He was totally different from last night, all weak and in pain but now she can truly see that he's back to normal. "I don't like this feeling."

"Hm?"

"The feeling of not knowing. Your case is like a puzzle that I have to solve." Poluchka handed him out a lacrima from her pocket. "This is a communication lacrima. If anything happens, contact me immediately."

Natsu was shocked at this act of kindness. He pulled out a big grin and said, "Arigatou Poluchka-san. I knew I can count on you."

"Tch. Don't thank me. It seems like I have something new that I have yet to discover. Sudden extremely high body heat….you sure you didn't experience anything else before that?"

Natsu nodded sideways and remembered something, "Oh Poluchka-san, promise me one thing."

"This better be important."

"Please keep this a secret. I don't want anyone to worry about me. Please." At this, Natsu bowed. He deeply cared for his friends that he didn't want anyone of them to worry.

Poluchka grunted, "Hmph, as if I'll see anyone here. I hate humans. You have nothing to fear."

"Thanks, Poluchka-san."

Poluchka let out a tiny smile that he got the name right finally. "Go back to your guild. Makarov might not like it you slacking off."

Natsu nodded. "I will. See you next time!" He waved and left at her house.

_'Makarov,'_ Poluchka thought, _'You better keep an eye for your kids.'_

* * *

Back in the guild…

Erza thought,_ 'Arya Wellington….I can sense she has a lot of magical power. Why does she need us?'_

Master Makarov added to her introduction, "The Wellingtons own a fishery in a small fishing town, Aberdeen, down south of Magnolia. Her family is quite famous."

Happy cheerfully said, "Does that mean you have a lot of fishes?"

Charles smacked him at the back of his head, "Don't say stupid things like that."

Arya just smiled sweetly at the two exceeds and said, "Yes we do have a lot of fish. You'll be able to eat a lot of fish once you go to our town if you accept the job. Aberdeen has the best catch in the country…well, we HAD the best catch…" the tone of her voice suddenly changed to a sad tone.

"What's the job offer anyway?" Gray asked.

"Well…" Before Arya continued, the door of the room suddenly opened with a loud band. It was Natsu who came and he yelled, "What's the mission?! Mira said you guys are going on a mission! I want in!"

Happy cried again but this time it was tears of joy as he flew to his partner, "Natsu, where have you been?"

"Yeah Natsu! Leaving Happy all of a sudden without saying anything. What happened?" Lucy scolded. But deep down inside, she was glad that he's fine. She might go ballistic if he didn't show up by the end of the day.

"I'm so sorry Happy. I couldn't sleep so I took a walk but I got lost." Natsu pathetically lied.

Gray seemed to bought it and said looking all smug, "See? He must've set fire on his own brain cells and got lost."

"What did you say perverted ice princess?" Natsu clenched his fist up to Gray's face. Gray did the same then Erza stop the both of them.

"Stop it you two! We have a guest here." Erza did not buy Natsu's lie at all but she wanted to get down to this Arya business fast. "Natsu, this is Arya Wellington, our client." They slightly bowed to each other before Erza urged Arya to continue.

"Aberdeen was blessed with lots of fishing resources. Our economy relies heavily on the fishing industries. But now, slowly, more and more fishes are vanishing. We don't even see dead fishes on our lakes and oceans. They're just gone. Fisheries are closing down and our fishery is one of the last few remaining but all of us combined don't sell enough to feed the town."

Wendy commented, "That's sad. What happened to the fishes?"

"I don't know myself. But there were eye witnesses, saying that it was..it was.." Arya started to tremble, "A sea dragon."

"A sea dragon?" Eveyone was caught by surprise. Dragons were believed to be extinct although dragon slayers continue to look for their parent dragons. This got Natsu and Wendy to listen more carefully.

"Yes, or that's what the fishermen call the beast. They described it as a beast with a body of a snake and a snout, eyes and claws like a dragon. Unlike the dragons we see in books, this one has no wings. It is as long as travelling from Magnolia to this guild."

"Natsu-san," Wendy whispered to her fellow dragon slayer, "Is there a dragon like that?"

Natsu thought for a while then answered, " Igneel said there are different types of dragons. It is possible a dragon like that can exist. I want to ask him if he knows Igneel."

"And Gradine."

"So this why I ask this guild specifically and asked for the three dragon slayers," Arya said, "to confirm it really is a dragon or not. Master Makarov wanted more people on the team because there are rumors of dark guilds surrounding Aberdeen. I guess this is for your own safety as well."

Gray pumped his fist in the air, "Dragons and dark guilds, this is getting exciting."

Erza said, "So what do you want us to do with the dragon if ever?"

Natsu said in a serious tone before Arya could answer, "We're not going to kill it if it's really a dragon. We're gonna talk to him. All dragons are nice and friendly, Igneel taught me that."

Gray protest, "But Natsu, remember Achno-" Erza cut him off before he mentioned that dreaded dragon's name.

"We'll trust you Natsu. But if it harms a human being, we won't hold back."

Natsu looked at Wendy first as if waiting for her to agree. She nodded and so did Natsu.

Lucy thought to herself and shuddered, _'What if it's not a dragon? Why am I on this team?'_ She let out a sigh. '_And Natsu's not telling me something.' _Like Erza, she didn't believe that his lie and wondered where he went. '_But I guess I have to save that questiong for later.'_

Erza said to Arya, "If you accept these conditions, we'll aceept the job."

Arya thought for a while then said, "I understand. Just make sure our waters are safe."

All this time, Juvia was hiding behind a pillar in the room stalking Gray. 'Huhuhuhu…Gray-sama is going away with my love rival and a beautiful girl. Juvia wants to go with him.' She silently thought as she bits her collar to prevent her from crying out loud.

Arya then gave instructions for the team. She said that since she needs to run some errands, she'll go ahead to Aberdeen. The team will meet her tomorrow at her house and stay there as long as they get the job done. As soon as she was done, Arya bowed and said, "Thank you very much for your time. And excuse me for now. I need to get going soon."

Erza bowed and said, "We'll see you then tomorrow." They all waved and said their goodbyes are Arya left.

Master Makarov cheered the team, "Yosh! Get that 30 million jewels!"

That caught everyone except Erza in surprise, "30 million jewels?"

The old man nodded, "Yes, that's the deal we talked about beforehand. I guess she forgot to mention it."

Natsu said, "Yosh! I'm getting fired up!"

"Aye sir!" Happy flew beside him.

"Yosh! Let's get our fishing gear ready!" Then they ran out of the guild.

"Didn't they just hear that the town lacks fish?" Charles commented. "Hay, let's go pack Wendy."

"Sure Charles." And they left as well.

Lucy thought happily, '30 million jewels, how many years worth of rent is that?... Oh no, how about Natsu's party. I got to tell Mira about this.' Lucy left the room as well.

"Yosh, I'm going to warm up for tomorrow." Gray left the room too. (Juvia: Gray-saaamaaaa! Don't leave meeeee.)

It was Erza and the Master left in the room.

"This mission is not only for the money." Erza wasn't asking the old man. She was already stating it as a fact.

"I am worried about the dark guilds around that area." Makarov said, "They say the posses Zeref's power."

"Zeref?" Erza wanted nothing more to do with that man. He possed his beloved friend, Jellal, and turn his life into a mess. He also called on Achnologia and almost killed them. She truly despised the black wizard.

"I don't know the details so that's why I want you guys to investigate and be observant. If Arya didn't come here, I would have sent you guys there myself."

"Speaking about her, she is suspicious. I sense a lot of magic from her but it doesn't seem like it's from Zeref."

"She is suspicious. Not knowing about the beast itself but able to describe it with so much detail. It's either she's a liar or she's telling the truth or she has seen the beast herself."

"So this is a gamble for the 30 million jewels and the investigation of the dark guilds."

"Yes. And knowing that it might be a dragon, the dragon slayers won't refuse this job. But still, I have my doubts…so you better be careful." He let out a sigh. His children's safety is his top priority but he can't sit back and do nothing if Zeref is on the loose. "Go and rest now Erza, tomorrow will be a long day." Master Makarov told his best wizard in the team.

"As you wish Master," With that Erza walked out. She thought, 'Maybe I should warn Jellal about this.' Erza and the group recently met him and the guild he had formed, Crime Sorciere, a guild dedicated to wipe off all the drak guilds, along with Meldy and Ultear. 'But I don't know how to contact him.' She felt a little pain in her heart as she noticed how much she misses him. She just sighed and smiled, "I just hope you're doing your best out there Jellal so I should too."

* * *

Meanwhile…

Lily asked his partner, "Are you sure we should go ahead and not tell this to Natsu and Wendy?"

The iron dragon slayer just said, "If we go back to Magnolia, it would take a day and another to go there. This cruddy town is too damn far but good thing it is near from our last job."

They were both travelling in the woods. Gajeel smirked as he finally reached the end of the road and read a signboard that says, "Aberdeen."

Lily said, "This is the town where the guy at the bar said." Apparently, Gajeel and Lily had a job at a town nearby Aberdeen and the news of a dragon in the waters were started to spread in that town. Gajeel became curious and decided to go here once the job was done.

"Metalicana, I'm coming for you."


End file.
